Ben Kerr(VI)

Legendary Canadian eccentric Ben Kerr was born in 1930 in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. Kerr spent fifteen years in the Royal Canadian Air Force prior to settling in Toronto. In the 1960's Ben frequently played guitar in Toronto's Yorkville district alongside such musical luminaries as Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, and Steppenwolf as well as wrote songs for a then unknown Neil Young. In 1969 Kerr had a life changing experience after he decided to quit his three pack a day smoking habit and began taking a daily cayenne pepper cocktail that he claimed enhanced both his health and overall sexual prowess. Ben worked for a while as an executive for the Toronto Harbour Commission before eventually quitting in a rage after a coworker blew smoke in his face. An avid anti-smoking crusader, Kerr not only wrote the song "Fire on One End, a Fool on the Other" about the incident, but also spent six months in 1981 walking from Toronto to Los Angeles, California to promote a smoking ban in offices.

Ben achieved his greatest local fame in downtown Toronto as a busker who sang with the assistance of a karaoke machine and acoustic guitar in front of the Hudson's Bay department store at the corner of Yonge and Bloor streets. Kerr was often voted "favorite street performer" in Now magazine's annual survey as well as made regular appearances on both radio and television as a staunch advocate for the health benefits of cayenne pepper. In addition, Ben wrote the book "The Cayenne Pepper Cocktail Does It All." Kerr also was a perennial fringe candidate who ran in every Toronto mayoral election from 1985 until 2003 who even placed fourth behind three other candidates in 1997. Ben died at age 75 on June 17, 2005 at his home on Jones Avenue in Toronto. In the wake of his passing the Toronto City Council named a laneway near the corner of Danforth and Jones in Kerr's honour.